COUNTY NEWS: Thousands of jobs cut by HSBC

Staff at HSBC branches across Sussex are waiting to find out if their jobs are safe after the bank announced it would cut 8,000 across the UK.

Between 22,000 and 25,000 jobs will be cut globally as part of an overhaul to slash costs and reshape the business.

The bank said it was planning a reduction of around 10% of its full-time workforce.

It is thought 8,000 jobs could be impacted in the UK, where HSBC has around 48,000 employees.

The group also announced aims to sell its businesses in Turkey and Brazil, which will see its workforce reduce by around another 25,000.

It comes as the bank seeks to deliver annual cost savings of around 4.5 billion US dollars (£2.9 billion) to 5 billion US dollars (£3.3 billion) by the end of 2017.

HSBC also confirmed it would finish its review of where to base its headquarters by the end of the year, after announcing recently that it was considering a move away from the UK due to regulatory and structural reforms.

HSBC said it was undertaking a “significant” reshaping of the business.

The announcement came ahead of an investor presentation on HSBC’s strategy by chief executive Stuart Gulliver.

He said the actions being taken would “transform our organisation”.

He added: “We recognise that the world has changed and we need to change with it.”

The bank said it would target a reduction of its group risk-weighted assets of around 290 billion US dollars (£189 billion) - including reducing its investment banking division to less than a third of its balance sheet.

It added that it wanted to return the global banking and markets division to profitability - an area which has become more expensive for banks in the tougher regulatory environment since the financial crisis.

The Unite union said the expected UK job cuts were the latest example of a workforce being punished for the misconduct of senior and investment bankers.

Dominic Hook, Unite national office for finance, said: “Unite are seeking to meet with UK chief executive Antonio Simoes as soon as possible to demand that any redundancies are through voluntary means or managed through natural attrition.

“After all the scandals of recent years, frontline staff have suffered time and time again as they are forced to pay for the mistakes of others with their jobs, their terms and conditions and their reputation.”

The Unite union said the expected UK job cuts were the latest example of a workforce being punished for the misconduct of senior and investment bankers.

Dominic Hook, Unite national office for finance, said: “Unite are seeking to meet with UK chief executive Antonio Simoes as soon as possible to demand that any redundancies are through voluntary means or managed through natural attrition.

“After all the scandals of recent years, frontline staff have suffered time and time again as they are forced to pay for the mistakes of others with their jobs, their terms and conditions and their reputation.”

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